Recognition
by hyperoo
Summary: Crossover: Elfquest Yes, Elfquest. After the the Gaang stumbles across the Palace of the High Ones visiting, they discover memories from past lives and promises they made. Disclaimer: Don't own Avatar or ElfQuest, and make no money nor tangible profit


It was an odd feeling for Toph, she had never felt vibrations quite like it before. She wasn't even sure what kind of rock it was, it felt almost like the crystals the Earth Kingdom used in street lamps, but not quite. It didn't get warm or vibrate like those, nor did it feel as fragile. In fact, it was the strongest mountain of rock Toph had ever touched. Except it wasn't really a moutain, it was just sitting there, trying to pass as a mountain.

But that didn't bother her as much as the people she saw inside of it. At least she thought they were people. They walked like people and talked like people, (though they spoke a language she had never heard) they had four limbs and walked upright and had heartbeats just like people. But for some reason, she was sure they weren't people.

This of course added to her distress. She had been injured in their escape from the Western Air Temple. A fleet of Fire Nation war balloons had attacked and everyone had been separated. Sokka had quickly helped Teo and Haru onto Appa, Toph, Aang, Katara and Zuko (being the bending masters that they were) had been keeping the attacks at bay as best they could. But one of the captains had been smarter than that, he started launching his missiles at the foundation of the Temple. Toph had felt Zuko and Katara fall, but she also felt Zuko grab Katara when he grasped a vine on the side of the cliff. (She hoped they had made it to Zuko's war balloon.) As the rock underneath her feet had begun to crumble, Aang grabbed her and pulled her onto his glider. They had made it across the chasm and over to the forests on the other side when a missile got to close. Toph and Aang were thrown from each other and she had fallen into the trees below.

She had let her left arm take the blunt of the injuries, knowing she would need at least one good hand and both of her feet to survive.

After resting for a moment in the tree that had broken her fall, Toph smacked the trunk a few times to try to see where she was, this gave her enough to form a set off stairs to the ground. After getting an idea of how far away the Fire Nation soldiers were (not very), she had quickly fled, trying to find solid rock or a mountain. Toph knew she would need something much harder than dirt to fight in her injured state.

As she came across the mountain, Toph thought luck was with her, but then she realized what it was.

Unaware of its substance, she wasn't sure of how useful it would be in a fight. Truth be told, she wasn't even sure it was something she could bend. And then there were the odd inhabitants of it.

Just as she was about to attempt to bend it, Toph felt footsteps behind her. It was the Fire Nation soldiers and there were too many for her to fight. For the first time in her life, Toph felt real fear. Her left arm was broken and useless, she was surrounded by Earth she wasn't sure she could bend and the soldiers were closing in. She took a horse stance hoping to at least make the soldiers earn their captive, but they never came. Instead she heard the snarling of wolves, an entire pack of them were closing in, but not on Toph, on the soldiers. In a few short blasts of fire and snarls it was all over, the soldiers had fled.

Toph wanted to feel relieved, but now she had a pack of wolves to deal with, or so she thought. Just as she was about to attack the first wolf, the rock beneath her gave way and she fell down a slide of smooth crystal into the odd structure.

As she hit the bottom she heard voices surrounding her, the language was beautiful, almost like a song. A pair of small delicate hands touched Toph's left arm, the pain stopped, the bone mended, she was healed. But that didn't surprise her near as much as the fact that the hands only had four fingers each. The hands then swept over her face and rested on her eyes. Realizing what was about to happen, Toph quickly shoved them away.

"No!" She snapped.

It was odd but being given the chance to use her eyes instead of her feet to see, she realized she preferred her feet. They could see much better than eyes.

"Don't heal her eyes!" a familiar voice called "She doesn't need them."

"Twinkle-toes!" Toph shouted happily, as she got up and ran in the direction of the voice and light footsteps.

Katara and Zuko landed the War Balloon behind a small formation of rocks, Zuko opening the valve until all of air had escaped. Hoping it would stay hidden, he and Katara made their way quietly towards the forest, neither saying much to the other.

Zuko knew Katara still didn't trust him, (even though he had saved her life twice in the last few hours) and of course, it didn't help that they may be the only survivors, making their fight against his father almost impossible.

Zuko quickly shook that thought away, the others had survived, it was as simple as that. After all, why the spirits have helped the avatar as much as they did if he was fated to lose? Obviously he was supposed to win.

_Destiny is a funny thing, _Iroh's voice rang in his head. Zuko sighed, he hated when his thoughts were so depressing. It made finding a silver lining very difficult. He glanced over at Katara, her head down, a tired look in her blue eyes. Not only had they been separated from the Avatar, (someone Katara obviously cared for very deeply) but also her brother. Zuko knew Katara had already lost her mother, her father had been captured after the eclipse and now her brother might be dead. He knew all of this was a lot for her to take in.

_She's so strong, _thought Zuko, _but she shouldn't have to be. _

He wanted to reach out to her, to hold her and let her cry or scream or whatever would make her feel better, but Zuko knew better. She would most likely take the Prince of the Fire Nation comforting her as an insult. He sighed as they walked around trees and stepped over roots, why was everything always so complicated? It didn't have to be, people just made it that way.

Katara glanced over at Zuko, he looked tired. Very tired, the dark circles under his right eye and ashen look to his skin from the obvious sleep deprevation made his scar stand out even more. Katara had always been curious as to how he had gotten it, it seemed to be related to his banishment somehow, but she didn't know how. She had never asked. A part of her was mad that she was even curious about it, her thoughts about Zuko or his scar should be left in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se since that was the last time she had truly cared about it, at least that's what she tried to tell herself. The truth was that Katara did care about Zuko and what he thought, even though she didn't know why she would, it was a fact. Now it was her turn to sigh. She hated when things were so complicated.


End file.
